Appearance and Character

Jon has more Stark-like features than any of his half-brothers.[8] He is graceful and quick, and has a lean build.[9] Jon has the long face of the Starks,[10][11] with dark,[9][11] brown hair[12][13] and grey eyes[11] so dark they almost seem black.[9] Because he looks so much like a Stark, Tyrion Lannister notes that whoever Jon's mother was, she left little of herself in her son's appearance.[10] Out of all the Stark children, Arya Stark is said to resemble Jon the most, as Robb, Sansa, Bran and Rickon take after their Tully mother, Catelyn.[14] During the Great Ranging, Jon temporarily grows a beard.[15][3]

Jon looks solemn and guarded,[10] and is considered sullen and quick to sense a slight.[16] Due to having been raised in a castle and trained by a master-at-arms, Jon is seen by some lower-born members of the Night's Watch as arrogant at first,[17] though this changes when they become more friendly towards one another, as Jon is reminded of his nonetheless privileged background and decides to pass on his knowledge to them. Jon is observant,[9][8] a trait he developed on account of being a bastard.[8] He is a capable horseback rider and is well practiced in fighting with a sword.[8] Jon has resented his bastard status most of the time.[8] He desires to be viewed as honorable[18] and wants to prove he can be as good and true as his half-brother, Robb.[19] Jon dreamed he would one day lead men to glory, or even become a conqueror, as a child.[20] He feels strongly about not fathering a bastard himself.[21][3]

While Lord Eddard Stark openly acknowledged Jon as his son and allowed him to live at Winterfell with his half-siblings, Jon felt like an outsider nonetheless. While Jon has good relationships with his siblings, especially Robb, with whom he trained since they were children,[22] and Arya, whom he sees as somewhat of an outsider as well,[17] Eddard's wife Catelyn, who was especially annoyed when Jon bested Robb in training or classes,[22] ensured that Jon was never truly one of them.[17][23] Jon is not close to Theon Greyjoy, Eddard's ward.[16] Lord Eddard refuses to speak of Jon's mother and the boy grew up unaware of her identity, something which has wounded and haunted him.[8][1][24][25] When Jon dreams of her, he considers her to be beautiful, highborn, and kind.[1]

As a northerner raised at Winterfell, Jon keeps faith with the old gods.[23] He eventually discovers that he is a warg, being able to see through the eyes of his direwolf, Ghost, when he sleeps,[26] and experiencing Ghost's feelings and senses while awake.[22]

After joining the Night's Watch, Jon dresses in their official black garb.[17] While there is no description of Jon's personal coat of arms in the books, George R. R. Martin told the company Valyrian Steel, which makes replicas of Jon's sword, to use the reversed Stark colors on the plaque that goes with the sword.[27]

History

Jon was born in 283 AC, near the end of Robert's Rebellion.[N 1] Jon was named by Lord Eddard Stark.[28]The identity of Jon Snow's mother remains a mystery, and several suggestions have been made by those who know the Starks. Jon is unaware of his mother's identity[21][17] and Eddard refuses to speak of her.[17] When Eddard returned from the war, he brought the newborn Jon to Winterfell, insisting on raising him with the rest of his family. Jon and his wet nurse had been installed in the castle before the arrival of Eddard's new wife, Catelyn Tully, and his young son and heir, Robb Stark, from Riverrun, which Catelyn did not take well.[8]

Lord Eddard Stark was fiercely protective of Jon[29] and refused to send him away.[8] Jon was raised at Winterfell with his half-siblings, where he was tutored by Maester Luwin,[30] and trained at arms by the master-at-arms, Ser Rodrik Cassel. Jon has trained at swordplay since he was old enough to walk, together with Robb,[22] whom he came to view as his "best friend, rival and constant companion",[17] and later also with Theon Greyjoy,[31] after the latter came to Winterfell following the conclusion of Greyjoy's Rebellion. At some point, Jon learned how to swim in the great moat at Winterfell; he is considered a strong swimmer.[32]

Jon grew close to his true-born siblings, especially Robb and Arya. Due to the fact that they both looked alike, Arya came to believe that she was bastard-born as well and shared with her brother with this fear; Jon reassured his half-sister this was not the case.[14] As a young child[N 2] Jon and Robb built a great mountain of snow on top of a gate, hoping to push in on someone passing by. They were discovered by Mance Rayder, a ranger from the Night's Watch who had accompanied Lord Commander Qorgyle to Winterfell. The ranger promised not to tell anyone, and Jon and Robb succeeded in their ploy, being chased around the yard by Fat Tom, their victim.[2] Jon and Robb would often play a game of sword-play, in which they would pretend to be great heroes (including Florian the Fool, Aemon the Dragonknight, King Daeron I Targaryen, and Ser Ryam Redwyne). Once, when Jon called out that he was "Lord of Winterfell", Robb informed him that it was impossible due to his bastardy, which would become a sore memory for Jon.[22] Another time, Jon covered himself in flour and hid in one of the empty tombs in the crypt of Winterfell, and jumped out to scare Sansa, Arya, and Bran, who had been brought to the crypts by Robb.[33]

Since he was young, Jon's hero was King Daeron, the Young Dragon, who had conquered Dorne at the age of fourteen.[21][20] Lord Eddard had dreamed about raising new lords and settling them in the abandoned holdfasts in the New Gift, and Jon believes that, had winter come and gone more quickly, he might have been chosen to hold one of the settlements in his father's name.[32]

Recent Events

A Game of Thrones

Jon accompanies his father, Lord Eddard Stark, his brothers Robb and Bran, his father's ward Theon Greyjoy, and others from Winterfell to the execution of Gared, a deserter from the Night's Watch. On their way back to Winterfell, Jon and Robb race ahead and find a litter of direwolf pups. When Eddard states that killing the pups quickly would forestall a painful and slow death, Jon points out that there are five pups – one for each of Eddard's legitimate children – and the direwolf is the sigil of House Stark, indicating that they must be meant to have the wolves. The comparison only works out because Jon is not claiming a pup for himself, and Eddard gives in. As they leave, Jon discovers an albino pup, cast away from its litter.[9] He claims the pup for his own,[9] eventually naming it "Ghost".[21]

Because he is a bastard, Jon is not allowed sit with his siblings and the royal children during the feast welcoming King Robert I Baratheon and his family to the north. At the feast he speaks with his uncle, Benjen Stark, the First Ranger of the Night's Watch. When Benjen suggests that the Night's Watch could use a man as observant as Jon, Jon quickly requests to accompany him to the Wall when he leaves, as even a bastard can rise to a position of honor there.[21] Benjen is hesitant about having Jon join at such a young age, resulting in an argument causing Jon to storm out.[21] Outside, he runs into Tyrion Lannister, the youngest brother of Queen Cersei Lannister, who counsels him to "never forget what you are" and tells Jon to make it his strength instead.[21]

Although hesitant about it at the feast, Benjen eventually approaches Luwin, telling the maester that Jon had expressed interest in joining the Night's Watch .[8] When Lord Eddard decides to accept the position as Hand of the King at King's Landing, his wife, Catelyn Stark, refuses to allow Jon to remain at Winterfell. As Eddard feels he cannot take Jon south with him, Luwin suggests the Night's Watch for Jon, and Eddard agrees; Catelyn is pleased, because as a member of the Watch Jon will never father children who might contest her grandchildren's inheritance of Winterfell.[8]

The decision for him to go to the Wall leaves Jon angry in the days before he is set to leave.[34] The departure day is postponed following Bran's accident, but a fortnight after Bran's fall Jon and Benjen are ready to leave Winterfell. Jon says his last goodbyes, first to the comatose Bran, then to Robb, and finally to Arya, to whom he gives a small, slender sword which they name Needle.[35] On his way to the Wall, Jon quickly becomes disillusioned with the Night's Watch, after meeting Yoren, a so-called wandering crow, and his new recruits.[10] During the journey, Jon befriends Tyrion Lannister, who had decided to travel further north to see with Wall for himself.[10]

At Castle Black, Jon first remains aloof and distant, making no friends; he scorns his fellow recruits who return the feeling, resenting him due to his attitude. Days after their arrival, Benjen leaves to lead a ranging, and while Jon requests to accompany him, Benjen refuses to allow it, leaving Jon angry. After a fight between Jon and several other recruits, Jon speaks with Donal Noye, the armorer at Castle Black, who points that Jon has been a bully to the other recruits. When a letter arrives from Winterfell informing Jon that Bran, though crippled, has awoken and will live, Jon is ecstatic, and when he returns to the Common Hall, he offers his fellow recruits advice on their swordplay.[17] Jon soon becomes a natural leader, mentor, and friend to most of his fellow trainees, earning him the enmity of the master-at-arms, Ser Alliser Thorne. When Samwell Tarly arrives at the Wall, Jon reaches out to him, and helps him being accepted by the majority of the recruits.[36][30]

As new recruits are about to arrive at Castle Black, eight recruits, including Jon, are chosen to take their vows. Sam is not chosen, and Jon realizes that it will only be a matter of time that Sam will be hurt of killed in training without his friends present to protect him. Jon visits Maester Aemon and asks if Aemon will persuade Lord CommanderJeor Mormont to take Sam from training and allow him to take his vows, pointing out that Sam, due to his ability to write, read, and to math, would make a good personal steward for Aemon.[30] This earns Jon the enmity of Chett, Aemon's steward.[37] Aemon promises to consider it.[30] Sam finds Jon the next day, informing him that he too is allowed to take his vows, and has been appointed Aemon's personal steward. Jon expects to be raised to the rangers, but is angered when Lord Commander Mormont appoints him as his personal steward instead. Sam points out to Jon that Mormont has given him the position in order to groom him for command, which quells his anger. Jon and Sam decide to say their vows in front of the weirwood trees located north of the Wall. After they have said the words, Ghost returns with the severed hand of Jafer Flowers,[23] alerting the men of the corpses of Jafer and Othor. The two corpses are brought back to Castle Black, where Jon is informed of the death of King Robert and the arrest of his father, Eddard. Jon attempts to attack Alliser after the knight mocks Eddard and Jon, and is placed in isolation as a result. That night, the two deceased brothers they had found north of the Wall rise. When one wight attempts to attack Lord Commander Mormont, Jon intervenes, saving Jeor's life, though he seriously burns his hand in the process.[38] In gratitude, Jon gives Jon Longclaw, the Valyrian steel bastard sword of House Mormont, on which he has had a direwolf head engraved onto the pommel in honor of House Stark.[39]

Though he is now a sworn brother of the Night's Watch, Jon becomes torn between the Watch and his former family when he learns from Sam that Robb has marched south with an army. Maester Aemon explains to Jon the difficulty of keeping true to the Night's Watch's vows at times, citing among other examples the deaths of most of his relatives at the end of Robert's Rebellion, causing Jon to realize Aemon is a Targaryen.[39] Nonetheless, Jon tries to desert and join Robb's army after Eddard's execution, though the penalty for deserting the Night's Watch is death. His new friends bring him back, however, and save him from this fate.[40]

The next day, Lord Commander Mormont chastises him for running, and Jon agrees to fully commit to the Watch. He accepts his place as Jeor's squire and prepares for the journey beyond the Wall which Mormont plans to lead.[40]

Jon fetches Samwell Tarly for Lord Commander Jeor Mormont, who has been waiting for maps of the lands further north. Jeor and Jon discuss his hand, which still troubles him, but is slowly getting better. They discuss Maester Aemon, and Jeor reveals that Aemon had once been offered the Iron Throne, but instead had decided to remain a maester, and the throne passed to his younger brother, Aegon IV Targaryen. Jeor points out the similarities between Jon and Aemon in having a brother for king; Jon reassures the Lord Commander that, like Maester Aemon, he too will keep his vows.[41]

The ranging party passes through several wildling villages, including Whitetree, but find no hint of any wildling presence.[42] They then stop at Craster's Keep, where they learn that the normally anarchic wildlings are uniting under a single figure, King-beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder. Though they are commanded not to speak to Craster's daughters, Gilly, one of Craster's daughters who is pregnant with his child, approaches Jon after encouragement from Sam. She asks to join Jon when they leave Craster's Keep, but Jon refuses her, and later scolds Sam for ever having given her the idea.[43] After reaching the Fist of the First Men, Ghost leads Jon to a mound where the direwolf digs up an old warhorn and a cache of dragonglass wrapped in an old cloak of the Night's Watch.[44] Jon distributes these items among his sworn brothers. After the arrival of Qhorin Halfhand with the men from the Shadow Tower, Jon is picked by Qhorin to accompany one of the three scouting parties into the mountains.[45]

In the Skirling Pass, Qhorin's party comes across a group of wildling sentries, and Jon is one of those assigned to take them out. He kills one of the man, but discovers his second target is a woman. Jon decides to take the girl, called Ygritte, prisoner instead. He reveals to her that he is the bastard son of Eddard Stark, and during the night, Ygritte tells Jon the story of "Bael the Bard", a song which insinuates that, through Bael, the Starks too have wildling blood. Later, Qhorin orders Jon to kill her, but Jon secretly lets her go instead. Before she leaves, Ygritte informs Jon that Mance Rayder would accept him, if he wanted to join the free folk.[46] Jon tells Qhorin about this, who confirms that Mance would be willing, and tells Jon that Mance had been a man of the Night's Watch himself once. That night, when Jon dreams he sees through the eyes of Ghost, and witnesses thousands of wildlings, and giants and mammoths, before being attacked by an eagle. Jon informs the group, who recognize Jon for a warg. They later see the eagle, and when they find a wounded Ghost, Qhorin decides they return to the Fist of the First Men.[26] With the enemy following them, Qhorin orders Dalbridge to stay behind to defend the others,[26] while Ebben and Stonesnake are sent forth to reach the First is great haste, leaving only Qhorin and Jon. Qhorin commands Jon to join the wildlings when they are discovered, and to do whatever they ask. When the wildling band led by Rattleshirt finds them, Jon yields, and the wildlings require him to kill Qhorin to proof his loyalty to them. With the help of Ghost, Jon kills Qhorin, and the wildlings agree to bring him to Mance Rayder.[47]

A Storm of Swords

Jon meets with Mance Rayder and convinces him that his desertion is sincere. During their conversation, Jon learns Mance's plans to invade the Seven Kingdoms.[2] He falls in love with Ygritte and briefly breaks his vows of chastity with her. He hesitates between betraying her or leaving the Night's Watch, eventually realizing that he must escape and warn them of the upcoming attack. Jon joins Styr's mission to scale the Wall and take unaware the skeleton crew left manning Castle Black.[48] After scaling the wall, he gets the opportunity to escape as the wildlings are attacked by Summer in the vicinity of the abandoned Queenscrown - unaware that it is due to the efforts of his half-brother Bran, who is hidden in a nearby castle. He manages to escape in the confusion on a horse, but not before taking an arrow in the leg.[32]

Jon reaches Castle Black barely conscious. He is tended to by Maester Aemon and warns the Night's Watch of the upcoming attack of the wildlings. Maester Aemon and Grenn gently break the news to Jon that his brothers, Bran and Rickon, have died at the command of Theon Greyjoy.[49] After Jon recuperates, he helps Donal Noye in the defence of Castle Black against Styr's raiders. All of the raiders are killed, including Ygritte, who dies in a grief-stricken Jon's arms.[50] Jon reluctantly takes command of the Wall's defences against Mance's direct assault following Donal Noye's death, after prompting from Master Aemon. Jon successfully holds the Wall against overwhelming odds for several days.[51] However, upon the arrival of Ser Alliser Thorne and Lord Janos Slynt at Castle Black, Jon is arrested for his earlier defection and thrown in an ice cell, where he is threatened with execution for his desertion and the murder of Qhorin Halfhand.[13] After Aemon vouches for Jon's honour and capability during the wildling attack, Thorne and Slynt realize they cannot have Jon hanged due to his popularity on the Wall and therefore force him to make an assassination attempt on Mance during a parley, hoping he will be killed there instead. During the negotiations, Mance states that he has the Horn of Winter, which he claims will cause the Wall to collapse; he reveals that he only had the wildlings attack the wall not to conquer, but to escape the Others. The King-Beyond-the-Wall then offers Jon the Horn of Winter if the Night's Watch allows the wildlings to safely pass through to South of the Wall, but states that they will not yield to the lords or their laws. Before Jon can attack Mance or destroy the Horn, Stannis Baratheon's forces make a surprise appearance and rout the wildlings.[19]

Jon's service defending the Wall earns him popular support and his release from imprisonment. Jon meets with Stannis, who tells him that if he recognizes Stannis as king, he will legitimize him and make him Lord Jon Stark of Winterfell, as he needs "a son of Ned Stark" in order to gain support of the North. [19] He is overwhelmed by feelings of guilt and grief for his dead siblings, especially since he bitterly admits to himself that becoming Lord of Winterfell was something he always desired, and that he was always envious of Robb for his legitimate birthright. Meanwhile, however, due to the efforts of Samwell Tarly, Jon has been voted as a compromise candidate between rival factions of the Watch for the post of Lord Commander.[52] Unaware of this, Jon musings on being legitimized are interrupted by Ghost's return from beyond the Wall, to their mutual joy. He is reminded of the day the Starks found the direwolves near Winterfell; Ghost had the red eyes of the weirwood, and he recognizes that Ghost "belongs to the old gods", as does Winterfell. He realizes that if he bends the knee to Stannis he would have to choose to yield the castle to Stannis' priestess Melisandre, and give her leave to burn the heart tree, a choice which Jon deems to be disrespectful. Thus, he refuses Stannis and becomes the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch in a landslide vote, to his own disbelief.[22]

Separately, Robb Stark, believing Bran, Rickon, and Arya to be dead, decides to legitimise Jon and name him his heir over his mother Catelyn's objections, to prevent Winterfell and the North from falling into Lannister hands following Tyrion Lannister's marriage to Sansa.[53] The decree is witnessed by Robb's bannermen prior to their arrival at The Twins for Edmure Tully's wedding; however it is unknown how widely the decree has been disseminated, if at all, and Jon remains ignorant of his legitimisation by Robb.

A Feast for Crows

In King's Landing, Queen Regent Cersei Lannister is outraged to learn of Jon's appointment as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, as he has given Stannis shelter. The small council agrees that Jon must be removed from command. Pycelle suggests to inform the Watch that the crown will sent no more men to the Wall until Jon is removed, but Qyburn suggests that they send a hundred men to the Wall who will be given the secret order to remove Jon. Cersei is delighted with the idea.[54] She plots to send Ser Osney Kettleblack to carry out the plan,[54][55][56] but both Osney and Cersei are imprisoned by the Faith before these plans can come to fruition.[56]

A Dance with Dragons

Slowly Jon grows into his position as a leader. Jon takes up residence within Donal Noye's quarters, following the blacksmith's death in the previous novel.[57] Jon is continually harassed, predominantly by Stannis's men, who have taken up residence within Castle Black and the Nightfort, which Jon granted to Stannis as thanks for his aid against the wildling assault. He attempts to maintain the neutrality of the Watch in the ongoing civil war for the Iron Throne, walking a political tightrope as Queen Regent Cersei Lannister is outraged that Eddard Stark's bastard son is now commanding the Wall.
Jon rebukes all demands from Stannis to settle his men within the Gift, claiming that the land and all of the sixteen unoccupied castles along the Wall as belonging to the Night's Watch. He sends Sam to the Citadel to train as Castle Black's next maester. With him, he sends Gilly, Maester Aemon, and the infant son of Mance Rayder, the last two for fear that Melisandre might want to use their royal blood for her magic.[57][58] He constantly broods upon the last words Maester Aemon gave to him before leaving, in which the maester explained how his younger brother, a grown man with children of his own when he ascended the Iron Throne, had seemed like a child in some ways. Aemon informs Jon that his advice to Aegon had been "Kill the boy and let the man be born.", and that he has the same advice for Jon.[58]}}

When Jon orders Janos Slynt to garrison one of the abandoned castles along the Wall, Janos refuses. Jon publicly points out that the punishment for refusing a direct command is death, yet gives Janos three chances to follow orders (noting as he does so that it was more chances than Janos gave his father when he betrayed Ned two years prior). After Slynt refuses once more, scoffing at the idea that Jon can command him or the Night's Watch, Jon orders him to be executed for his insubordination. However, he then recalls the laws of the First Men and his father, and beheads Slynt himself, using Longclaw to carry out the sentence and exacting small justice for Ned. This increases Stannis' respect for Jon and cements his new position.[58]

Jon displeases his fellow commanders of the Night's Watch by sending the wildling Val to treat with Tormund Giantsbane. This results in a fragile alliance between the Night's Watch and the wildlings. Jon settles the wildlings on the Gift and gives the warriors the opportunity to guard the Wall by garrisoning unoccupied castles against the Others. As the wildings are moved into the gift, Mance Rayder is given to the flames by Melisandre.[59] It is later revealed, however, that the burned man was in fact Rattleshirt under a glamour created by Melisandre.[60] Mance is sent by Jon to secretly rescue his sister Arya Stark from Ramsay Bolton, being unaware that it is actually Jeyne Poole.

With Stannis about to march on Deepwood Motte, Jon advises him to seek the help of the Northern mountain clans. Following Jon's advice, Stannis is able to secure the allegiance of the clans, greatly augmenting his own strength. Soon after Stannis has taken Deepwood, news arrive of Ramsay Bolton's impending marriage to "Arya Stark". Stannis immediately marches on Winterfell, the chosen site for the marriage, to face the forces of the Boltons.

Melisandre tells Jon she sees in her flames a girl on a dying horse making for Castle Black; she is convinced it must be Arya escaped from the Boltons. Melisandre also tells him she sees him surrounded by daggers in the dark, but he pays no mind to this warning. When Jon is awoken by Mully, who tells him that a girl has arrived on a dying horse, Jon's thoughts instantly go to Melisandre's vision; he giddily thinks that Arya may have come to him as prophesied and he and his half-sister will be reunited, but recognizes the girl as Alys Karstark, who states that she is fleeing a forced marriage to her uncle Cregan Karstark. Alys tells Jon her uncle only desires her because she is heir to Karhold and pleas Jon for his help.[61] He arranges a marriage between her and Sigorn, a wildling, and thus establishes a new house of Thenn. When Cregan arrives at Castle Black with reinforcements to claim Alys, Jon has them thrown in an ice cell. [62]

Weeks after Stannis has departed for Winterfell and is supposedly rallying his troops to battle, Jon receives a taunting letter purportedly from Ramsay Bolton entitled 'Bastard,' which claims that Stannis has been defeated and Mance Rayder captured. It demands fealty from Jon to House Bolton if the Night's Watch is to survive and gives a detailed account of Ramsay's actions which Jon views to his disgust repeatedly sully the honor of what was once the ancient seat of House Stark.[63] He responds to Ramsay's letter by relinquishing command of an impending ranging and announcing his intention to ride south against the Boltons. He does not order the Night's Watch to fight with him, but asks both wildlings and black brothers alike to join him of their own volition; Jon's decision causes great discontent within the Watch's upper leadership. In the confusion resulting from Wun Wun's killing of Ser Patrek of King's Mountain, Jon is stabbed repeatedly by Bowen Marsh and other black brothers, who attack in tears while muttering "for the Watch".[63]

Parentage

Jon Snow's parentage remains a topic of discussion among readers of the series, as his mother remains unidentified. On several occasions, the topic is brought to the reader's attention in text, although several characters provide different possibilities. Eddard's wife, Catelyn Tully, heard from her maids the tales Eddard's soldiers had told about Ashara Dayne, though Eddard refused to confirm this when she confronted him, and silenced the stories about Ashara at Winterfell.[8] Years later, Sansa Stark heard rumors saying that Jon's mother had been a common woman.[12]Cersei Lannister mentions Ashara as Jon's potential mother as well, as well as "some Dornish peasant".[64] Eddard seems to have told King Robert I Baratheon that Jon's mother was a woman named Wylla, though Robert has never seen her.[65] Meanwhile, Lord Edric Dayne believes his wetnurse, Wylla, to have been Jon's mother.[66] According to Lord Godric Borrell, the daughter of the fisherman who brought Eddard from the Fingers across the Bite to the north at the beginning of Robert's Rebellion gave birth to Eddard's bastard son, and according to Godric, it had been she who gave Jon his name, in honor of Jon Arryn.[67]

Fans of the series have speculated about his parentage for many years, with numerous theories having been developped during that time.

Quotes by Jon

Arya: I wish you were coming with us.Jon: Different roads sometimes lead to the same castle.[35]

Tyrion Lannister had claimed that most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it, but Jon was done with denials. He was who he was; Jon Snow, bastard and oathbreaker, motherless, friendless, and damned. For the rest of his life –however long that might be– he would be condemned to be an outsider, the silent man standing in the shadows who dares not speak his true name.[69]

- Jon's thoughts

Jon was not afraid of death, but he did not want to die like that, trussed and bound and beheaded like a common brigand. If he must perish, let it be with a sword in his hand, fighting his father's killers. He was no true Stark, had never been one... but he could die like one. Let them say that Eddard Stark had fathered four sons, not three.[40]

- Jon's thoughts

There's no shame in fear, my father told me, what matters is how we face it.[11]

Quotes about Jon

Whoever Jon's mother had been, Ned must have loved her fiercely, for nothing Catelyn said would persuade him to send the boy away. It was the one thing she could never forgive him. She had come to love her husband with all her heart, but she had never found it in her to love Jon. She might have overlooked a dozen bastards for Ned's sake, so long as they were out of sight. Jon was never out of sight, and as he grew, he looked more like Ned than any of the trueborn sons she bore him. Somehow that made it worse.[8]

My lords, when Donal Noye was slain, it was this young man Jon Snow who took the Wall and held it, against all the fury of the north. He has proved himself valiant, loyal, and resourceful. Were it not for him, you would have found Mance Rayder sitting here when you arrived, Lord Slynt. You are doing him a great wrong. Jon Snow was Lord Mormont's own steward and squire. He was chosen for that duty because the Lord Commander saw much promise in him. As do I.[13]